Versions – Kaw-Liga

Kaw-Liga is a country-music song written by Hank Williams and Fred Rose. Backed by the Drifting Cowboys, Hank Williams recorded the song in Nashville in September 1952 and the single was released posthumously in January 1953 on the MGM Records label. It was first released by Champ Butler. It remained No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart for 14 weeks. The flipside, “Your Cheatin’ Heart, remained No. 1 on the country chart for 6 weeks. Kawliga is a community in central Alabama on Lake Martin. Named after a legendary Indian for which a wooden statue was later placed near the lake, the song was written by Hank when he was staying at a lakeside cabin that still stands today. It is myth that Hank was looking out of his window at the statue when he wrote the song. The original Indian statue was actually removed from the Hale Motor Company, the Pontiac dealership in Alexander City, after Hank’s death (and later replaced, due to vandalism, by the Pontiac chieftain statue from the Pontiac dealership in Sylacauga, Alabama). Pontiac had revamped its image in 1952 with the new Chieftain line, and the “chieftain” proved to be Kaw-liga’s doppelganger. – From Wikipedia